FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 2020 Contact: Patricia DuChene Public Relations/Marketing
[email protected] Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (1941 – 2020) Long-time Director of internationally renowned John Michael Kohler Arts Center and tireless champion of under-recognized artists, art-environment builders and art forms SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin – Tuesday, November 17, 2020 – Ruth DeYoung Kohler II had a deep appreciation and passion for the works created by under-recognized artists and art forms and as the long-tenured Director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (1972-2016), she grew the Sheboygan, Wisconsin arts center to an internationally recognized institution presenting contemporary art, the work of vernacular artists, performing arts, and the work of art- environment builders. Ruth died Saturday, November 14, at her home in Kohler, Wisconsin, at the age of 79. She was the daughter of Herbert V. Kohler, Sr. and Ruth DeYoung Kohler, and younger sister of current Kohler Co. Executive Chairman Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. 1 At the time of her passing, Ruth held the title of Director Emerita at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center – a testament to her tremendous contribution to the fields of art environments and self-taught and folk art as well as contemporary art. Ruth was also a major shareholder in privately held Kohler Co., headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin. Ruth was a tireless champion of under-recognized artists and art forms. She saw the arts as a driver of positive social change, upholding the pillars of diversity, inclusiveness, and community involvement. She believed passionately that the arts, in all its iterations, reveal who we are as a people: past, present, and future.